{"id":35725,"date":"2022-09-21T15:51:59","date_gmt":"2022-09-21T20:51:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/?p=35725"},"modified":"2025-10-16T11:51:54","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T16:51:54","slug":"inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-alexs-number-concepts-part-iv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-alexs-number-concepts-part-iv\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Dr. Pepperberg’s Lab: Alex\u2019s Number Concepts\u2014Part IV"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"African
Alex sees a tray of three different sets of colored blocks, and is asked \u201cWhat color 7?\u201d By answering correctly, he shows that he understands the exact quantity. Note that we would normally use objects of different sizes so that he could not respond based on mass or contour\u2026but this is my only pic (and sadly not very sharp!) Courtesy of Dr. Irene Pepperberg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The last installment of “Alex’s Number Series”\u2014and maybe one of the most interesting, because here I discuss some numerical abilities that have not yet been demonstrated in any nonhuman other than Alex! Such is not to say that it won\u2019t<\/em> or can\u2019t<\/em> be demonstrated in another nonhuman, only that Alex was the first and so far the only nonhuman to show this behavior. The technical description of this behavior is that he inferred the cardinal values of new numbers from their ordinal values.<\/p>\n

In layman’s terms, what he did was to figure out that the value of every number on his number line (a list of numbers in order: \u201cone, two, three\u2026etc.\u201d) was one more than the number before it, and one less than the number after it (formally known as the \u201csuccessor function\u201d) and, after learning two new labels for his number line, inferred the numerical value of those labels based on their position on that number line.<\/p>\n

The study began when I started a position at the Radcliffe Institute at Harvard in 2004 and initiated a collaboration with two colleagues, Susan Carey and Elizabeth Spelke, who were studying number concepts in children. They both thought that nonhumans really didn\u2019t have the same understanding of numbers as did children, and were eager to test out that hypothesis.<\/p>\n

Toddler Talk: Stringing Numbers Together<\/h3>\n

The issues were as follows. Young children learn their small numbers very slowly (reviewed in Carey, 2009): Not until they are about 2\u00bd years old do they comprehend the concept of \u201cone versus many.\u201d It takes about another nine months for them to understand \u201cone versus two versus many,\u201d and about another five months to succeed on \u201cone versus two versus three versus many.\u201d<\/p>\n

Around that time they also learn to recite a number line. Initially, they just string together labels they know are associated with numbers in random patterns (\u201cone, three, six, two\u201d; Fuson, 1988; Le Corre, Van de Walle, Brannon, & Carey, 2006). As they learn more about the meanings of these labels, they begin to understand that the numbers in the line have a particular order (\u201cone, two, three\u2026\u201d; see review in Thompson & Siegler, 2010), and about the time they understand the meaning of \u201cfour,\u201d they make the connection between the labels in the number line and the labels that represent quantity, and infer the successor function described above\u2026they immediately<\/em> comprehend the meaning of the labels \u201cfive\u201d, \u201csix\u201d, etc. without any formal instruction (Carey, 2009; Hurtford, 1987).<\/p>\n

Alex Gets Vocal About Numbers<\/h3>\n

Nonhumans, however, take just as long to learn their larger numbers as their smaller ones (e.g., Biron & Matsuzawa, 2001). One problem is that nonhumans are never taught to produce a number line but, as we saw in previous entries here, they can learn<\/em> the order of their numerals. But what about Alex? Unlike the apes, he hadn\u2019t needed training to understand the order of his numerals; might Alex\u2019s difference from children in terms of acquiring the larger number labels simply involve difficulty in acquiring the English sounds needed to produce the number labels? For any English label, Alex had to learn to coordinate his syrinx, tracheal muscles, glottis, larynx, tongue height and protrusion, beak opening, and even esophagus (Patterson & Pepperberg, 1998). Separating the issues of vocal versus conceptual learning might test this possibility.<\/p>\n

In order to determine if production of English speech was the limiting step in Alex\u2019s ability to learn about new numerical labels, we designed the following experiment (Pepperberg & Carey, 2012): We taught Alex to vocally label the Arabic numerals 7 and 8 in the absence of their respective quantities (i.e., any sets of objects). We then trained him that 6<7<8, using our modeling system and plastic numerals, then tested how 7 and 8 related to his other Arabic labels, the same way we had tested his original understanding of the order of his numbers (Pepperberg & Gordon, 2005). If he inferred the new complete number line, he could then be tested on whether he, like children (\u22654 years old), spontaneously <\/em>understood that \u201cseven\u201d represented exactly one more than \u201csih\u201d, that \u201ceight\u201d represented two more than \u201csih\u201d and one more than \u201cseven\u201d, by labeling appropriate physical sets on first<\/em> trials.<\/p>\n

Remember, all he knew at this point was that these numerals represented something greater than 6\u2026they could have represented ten or twenty! Data already showed he knew \u201csih\u201d represented exactly, not approximately, six items. If he succeeded on the new labels, we could claim that he had figured out, without any training whatsoever<\/em>, the actual (i.e., \u201ccardinal\u201d) meanings of \u201cseven\u201d and \u201ceight\u201d from their positions on his number line (i.e., from their \u201cordinality\u201d), something no ape (although evolutionarily closer to humans) had yet achieved.<\/p>\n

Alex learned to vocally produce the novel Arabic numeral labels; he then figured out exactly where they belonged appropriately in his number line. But, again, he had learned only<\/em> that they were greater than 6\u2026 yet he appropriately labeled, on first<\/em> trials, novel sets of seven and eight physical items\u2014he did not have to be taught the relationship between the labels and the novel sets (Pepperberg & Carey, 2012). Thus, he responded exactly<\/em> as would children who knew their counting principles!<\/p>\n

References<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Biro, D., & Matsuzawa, T. (2001). Use of numerical symbols by the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes): Cardinals, ordinals, and the introduction of zero. Animal Cognition, 4, 193-199.<\/em><\/p>\n

Carey, S. (2009). The Origin of Concepts. New York: Oxford University Press.<\/em><\/p>\n

Fuson, K.C. (1988). Children\u2019s Counting and Concepts of Number. Springer-Verlag: Berlin, Heidelberg, New York.<\/em><\/p>\n

Hurford, J.R. (1987). Language and Number. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.<\/em><\/p>\n

Le Corre, M., Van de Walle, G., Brannon, E.M., & Carey, S. (2006). Re-visiting the competence\/performance debate in the acquisition of the counting principles. Cognitive Psychology, 52, 130\u2013169.<\/em><\/p>\n

Patterson, D.K., & Pepperberg, I.M. (1998). A comparative study of human and Grey parrot phonation: Acoustic and articulatory correlates of stop consonants. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 103, 2197-2213.<\/em><\/p>\n

Pepperberg, I.M., & Carey, S. (2012). Grey Parrot number acquisition: the inference of cardinal value from ordinal position on the numeral list. Cognition, 125, 219-32.<\/em><\/p>\n

Pepperberg, I. M., & Gordon, J. D. (2005). Number comprehension by a Grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus), including a zero-like concept. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 119, 197\u2013209.<\/em><\/p>\n

Thompson, C.A., & Siegler, R.S. (2010). Linear numerical-magnitude representations aid children\u2019s memory for numbers. Psychological Science, 21(9) 1274\u20131281.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In her last installment of “Alex’s Number Series,” Dr. Irene Pepperberg reveals Alex’s numerical abilities that have yet to be demonstrated by any other nonhuman\u2014quite a feat! Read on to find out how Alex the African grey parrot was the first, and so far the only, nonhuman to show that he inferred the cardinal values of new numbers from their ordinal values. In layman’s terms, Alex understood that numbers in order (i.e. “One, two, three…) meant that a number was one more than the preceding number and one less than the number after it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":35726,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[81,169],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-behavior","category-new"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nInside Dr. Pepperberg's Lab: Alex\u2019s Number Concepts\u2014Part IV – Pet Birds by Lafeber Co.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In her last installment of "Alex's Number Series," Dr. Irene Pepperberg reveals Alex's numerical abilities that have yet to be demonstrated by any other nonhuman\u2014quite a feat! 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You can help Dr. Pepperberg continue the groundbreaking parrot research she began more than 30 years ago with Alex, the African grey parrot who won admirers from around the world with his cognitive abilities. If you shop online through sites such as Amazon.com, you can designate the Alex Foundation to receive a percentage of your final sales, or register with the Alex Foundation at iGive.com and a percentage of sales from companies associated with iGive will go to the foundation. The Alex Foundation also has a \u201cDonate\u201d button linked to PayPal. Visit\u00a0The Alex Foundation\u00a0and click on the \u201cSupport Us\u201d link for more information. 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In layman's terms, Alex understood that numbers in order (i.e. \"One, two, three...) meant that a number was one more than the preceding number and one less than the number after it.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-alexs-number-concepts-part-iv\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-alexs-number-concepts-part-iv\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-alexs-number-concepts-part-iv\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Alex.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Alex.png","width":298,"height":242,"caption":"Alex sees a tray of three different sets of colored blocks, and is asked \u201cWhat color 7?\u201d By answering correctly, he shows that he understands the exact quantity. Note that we would normally use objects of different sizes so that he could not respond based on mass or contour\u2026but this is my only pic (and sadly not very sharp!)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-alexs-number-concepts-part-iv\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Inside Dr. Pepperberg’s Lab: Alex\u2019s Number Concepts\u2014Part IV"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/#website","url":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/","name":"Lafeber\u00ae Pet Birds","description":"Two Generations of Veterinarians Caring & Working for the Health of Animals","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/#\/schema\/person\/e2384637ed0fac4b764f548a0441622d","name":"Irene Pepperberg, Ph.D.","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/Pepperberg3crop-96x96.jpg","url":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/Pepperberg3crop-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/Pepperberg3crop-96x96.jpg","caption":"Irene Pepperberg, Ph.D."},"description":"Dr. Irene Pepperberg is a lecturer and research associate at\u00a0Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where her research lab is located. You can help Dr. Pepperberg continue the groundbreaking parrot research she began more than 30 years ago with Alex, the African grey parrot who won admirers from around the world with his cognitive abilities. If you shop online through sites such as Amazon.com, you can designate the Alex Foundation to receive a percentage of your final sales, or register with the Alex Foundation at iGive.com and a percentage of sales from companies associated with iGive will go to the foundation. The Alex Foundation also has a \u201cDonate\u201d button linked to PayPal. Visit\u00a0The Alex Foundation\u00a0and click on the \u201cSupport Us\u201d link for more information. Read more about the lab at The Alex Foundation Facebook page and at The Alex Foundation Twitter account.","url":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/author\/irene\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35725"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35725\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45620,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35725\/revisions\/45620"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}